Minnesota Timberwolves All-Time Dream Team
By Ali Siddiqui
The Minnesota Timberwolves franchise has had a rough 28 seasons. As we look back, let’s create an all-time team.
The Minnesota Timberwolves played in their first season in 1989-1990. It was not until the 1996-1997 season that they made it to the playoffs and 1997-1998 when they had their first winning season (45-37). They have not made it to the playoffs since the 2003-2004 season and have only made it past the first round once.
Despite that, they have still had some pretty good players over the years. Here is a look at their All-Time Dream Team.
Well this a very easy one. Garnett is the best player in Timberwolves history and one of the best power forwards to ever play this game. He also had the ability to defend all five positions on the court and was one of the best big men passers in NBA history.
The future Hall of Famer averaged 19.8 points, 11 rebounds and four assists per game in his 13 1/2 seasons with the Wolves.
Andrew Wiggins – Small forward
In his three seasons with the Wolves, he has been among the reasons to be excited about the future. He can also play guard and is a very good scorer. He has a great future ahead.
The former number one pick and Rookie of the Year has averaged 20.4 points per game in his career and has only missed one game.
He has only been in the league for two years, but has been unbelievable and has a great future ahead. Like Wiggins, he is among the reasons for optimism regarding the Wolves future.
The former number one pick and Rookie of the Year has averaged 21.7 points and 11.4 rebounds per game in his career and has yet to miss a game. This season he also became the first player in NBA history to score 2,000 points, grab 1,000 rebounds and make 100 3-pointers in a season.
Tony Campbell – Shooting guard
Played for the Wolves during their first three seasons of existence. He averaged 20.6 points per games during his career with the Wolves, including 23.2 during their inaugural season.
Played only two seasons for the Wolves, but played a huge role in helping them advance to the Western Conference Finals in 2004. Had he not been injured later in the series, the Wolves may have been NBA champions that year.
He averaged 19.8 points and 7.3 assists per game in his first season with the Wolves.
Bench
Flip Saunders – Head coach
Had Marbury not forced his way out, he would have been the starter and at the moment would have been the second best player in team history behind Garnett.
Nesterovic, before he left after the 2002-2003 season, was turning into a decent center. Gugliotta became the first player in Wolves history to be named to the All-Star Game but decided to leave after the 1997-1998 season. Rider had some baggage but was very talented.
Love and Jefferson were not good defenders but were gifted scorers. Szczerbiak was also a liability on defense but was a very good shooter. Lavine is a gifted scorer, but the question is whether he can regain his form after recovering from his torn ACL.
Then there is Sprewell. After the whole “I have family to feed” quote, things went downhill for him. He was out of the league after that season. His play during the 2003-2004 was definitely a good one though. He helped form what Garnett called the “three-headed monster” with them and Cassell.
Rubio is among the worst shooters in NBA history but is a great passer and a decent defender. One player who could have also been on the list was Chauncey Billups. He was here from 2000-2002 and was more of a shooting guard in a point guard body, but was a good shooter and could still play shooting guard at times too.
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Will Kris Dunn one day develop into a very good player too? He certainly has the defensive part down, but still needs to improve his offense.